Topic: How To Invest

Pat: May I get you advice on whether or not Cara Operations—the new owner of St. Hubert chicken—is a buy? Thanks.

Article Excerpt

A: Cara Operations Ltd, $30.33, symbol CAO on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 49.2 million; Market cap: $1.5 billion; www.cara.com), both franchises and operates 997 restaurants mostly in Canada. Of these, 88% (879) are operated by franchisees and 12% (118) are company-run. Those outlets divided into restaurants chains: Harvey’s (with 267 locations), Swiss Chalet (217), New York Fries (157), Montana’s (100), East Side Mario’s (77, Canada Only), Kelsey’s (68), Milestones (55), Prime Pubs (34), Casey’s (11), Bier Markt (7), and Landing (4). Cara was founded in 1883 and is Canada’s oldest restaurant company. As a stock, it was traded on the Toronto exchange between 1968 and 2004, but was taken private in 2004. The company came back on the Toronto exchange when it sold shares to the public at $23 a share and began trading in April 2015. Fairfax Financial (symbol FFH on Toronto) holds a 40% equity stake in the…